Villaraigosa: Term that began with high hopes has seen share of hard times

Three years ago amid the pomp and circumstance of his gala inauguration, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa exhorted residents to "Come dream with me" as he vowed his election would mark the dawning of a bright, new day for Los Angeles.

With an energetic and inspirational vigor, he outlined sweeping visions for a "subway to the sea," a cleaner and safer city, education reform and a raft of other new plans to fix a broad range of issues.

And for the first two years, he seemed to do no wrong.

But then came what would be dubbed the "Summer of Love," a sardonic reference to Villaraigosa's personal turmoil that included separating from his wife, Corina, divorce proceedings and the salacious disclosure that he was having an affair.

These days the affair is over, the divorce is quietly moving ahead, and Villaraigosa, after nearly nine months of maintaining a relatively low profile, has steadily begun re-emerging into the public spotlight.

And even if he no longer has the same rabid support that he enjoyed in 2005, he is once again energized with the prospect of what lies ahead, as he looks to his own re-election campaign.

After hitting the campaign trail for Sen. Hillary Clinton earlier this year, he hopes to be equally involved in the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

At the same time, he wants to take the lead in pushing for a half-percent sales tax for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that will become a precursor to his re-election campaign.

Amid it all, he has learned - as many mayors before him have - that Los Angeles is a tough city to govern and even tougher to get credit for accomplishments.

"People expect a lot," Villaraigosa told the Daily News Friday in an interview in his third-floor City Hall office.

For example, he said, even as he is working to build the Los Angeles Police Department to a historic high of 10,000 officers, someone at a public event recently told him he should get it up to 12,000.

And at an event to open the South Runway at Los Angeles International Airport, the first major project there in 24 years, he was already being asked to do something about the North Runway.

"That's the way it is for all mayors."

Even with that - as well as continuing criticism from various parts of the city - Villaraigosa returns to the refrain he maintained after being elected: "I love this job. Every day I wake up and realize how lucky I am."

But David Diaz, an urban studies professor at California State University, Los Angeles, said he would give Villaraigosa average marks.

"Given the excitement of his election and when he first came in, I think he's just been average," Diaz said.

"When he first came in, he tried to do too much. And it turned out he was one false step away from having problems. I'm not sure he did enough to engage the city and lay the groundwork for what he wanted to do."

Villaraigosa ticks off a number of successes for which he believes he has not received enough credit, including pushing ahead on major issues like gangs and crime programs.

He hired Jeff Carr as a city gang "czar." In a major coup his office now controls all of the city's anti-gang programs, and the controversial and troubled Bridges program has ended.

He also cites his launch of numerous environmental programs - from renewable energy at the Department of Water and Power to a clean trucks program at the Port of Los Angeles.

Then there's the hiring of more police officers - the LAPD should hit 10,000 sworn officers this year - and transit gains including synchronizing traffic lights and filling thousands of potholes.

"People told me to concentrate on one or two things and get those done," Villaraigosa said. "You know who those people are? Political consultants and pundits. If I had done that, nothing would get done. ..."

Instead, he said, he serves all parts of the city, an approach that also serves him politically.

"When I go to groups like Valley VOTE, I get a standing ovation," Villaraigosa said. "I know they don't agree with me on every issue but they tell me that no mayor has been to the San Fernando Valley as much as I have."

Political observers say it's not unusual for elected officials to face an uphill battle in getting credit for their accomplishments.

"You don't win any votes when you do solve problems. People expect that," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor who served as executive director of the Elected Charter Reform commission.

"You don't even get credit for trying to solve problems."

At the same time, Villaraigosa's gains have come as he has battled a slowing economy that this year meant he had to cover a $406 million shortfall in the city budget.

And he has persevered in a long political battle that means he finally this year will get control of 10 schools from Los Angeles Unified that will be part of his long-touted "Partnership for Los Angeles Schools," a five-year pilot program designed to reform education for the city's poorest children.

"It would have been easy for me to walk away from that after we were defeated in the courts, but this is too important," Villaraigosa said.

Now, as part of his re-election efforts, Villaraigosa has been on a round of fundraisers trying to raise more than $1 million for his campaign next year.

But there also is the question expected to dog Villaraigosa throughout his mayoral campaign: Will he run for governor in 2010?

"I am focused 100 percent on being mayor of Los Angeles," Villaraigosa said Friday. "We have laid a foundation for education, public safety, gang reduction and youth development, economic development, cleaning and greening the city, affordable housing, the homeless, traffic. We have made a lot of progress.

"I think the best thing I can do is the best I can do."

Several people who have talked to the mayor have said he is leaving his options open as he waits to see what political developments shake out on the state level.

Still, Villaraigosa's economic strategies are not without critics as he grapples with the budget shortfall and the prospect of layoffs if property tax and other revenues don't pick up soon.

"The economy is pretty much dead in the water and his strategy is all smoke and mirrors," said Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University.

"It's all based on real estate, and I think the city is in the worst shape it has been since the riots. Los Angeles has no real economic-development strategy."

And to some homeowners, there's also a sense that the mayor isn't considering them enough as well.

"It is not that he's out of touch. He has a reasonably good network to get input," said Gerald Silver, head of Homeowners of Encino. "But the problem is he doesn't agree with us."

Silver said he and others have long been concerned about overdevelopment and the resulting impacts.

"When it comes to issues like that, I would give him a D," Silver said. "What he has failed to do is link growth and development to consumption at a time when he is asking the rest of us to conserve.

"We can't wash our driveway down, yet a big new development that will use more water and power sails through."

Silver was among a key group of Valley homeowners who backed Villaraigosa four years ago against former Mayor James Hahn. Now, he said, he's not sure if he would support him for re-election. It depends on his opponents, and whether he makes additional improvements in the Valley.

Jaime Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Politics at California State University, Los Angeles, said it is such political matters that Villaraigosa has to address.

"I think he has done a reasonably good job in recovering from his problems last year. Maybe he's two-thirds recovered," Regalado said.